Formate: xball is the norm of most tourney now. im not saying we go to the 2 min breaks then go again, it cant be done at most fields that we play at now. no pits, cost alot to get air to the pits, not enough time, nor fields. I would like to see pools of 5 teams, best 2 out of 3 with top 2 from each pool going to semi finals then finals. A two day tourney would be sweet, but cost would be the number issue for teams then, hotel, food, etc. So we would have to keep a tap on games, and no long breaks in between them. as the players are being checked for clean or not the other team should be in teh start boxes ready to go. i would cut the 2 min down to 1 min to get teams rollin.

Prizes: have a set prizes list when the tourney info is posted. dan did this a few years back, with 10 teams this will be the prizes etc. Dan also made the upper level prizes better for teams to want to play up and not stay in l4 and level 3. you wanted to get to the level 1 stage to get those good guns, etc.

Set fields: I know its hard to fields/series to get a set field/dates months in adv but that would be great. exp for people in hs that have sporting events and what not. That way a team konws hey we got a tourney sept 11, but bob joe and jim have football, we need to get 3 guys to fill there spots.

Field layouts: I would like to see a field layout 3 weeks before each event. It dont matter if its in ms paint, or a pro layout like psp does. alot of people would love to see a layout before the event, maybe practice the layout, just get in teh zone before the event. Most people that play mps wanna some day (well you should) wanna take the next step and play nppl or psp, and that is what good teams do, is practice the layouts before the event. I can hear people now, the layout wasnt like the printed layout, etc, etc. you guys need to understand that is wont be perfect 100% of the time, you still gotta walk to the field.

Discounts: Maybe have a little discount if you pay for the whole series up front. I think the avid series, only had 10 teams but they all paid up front and it was some of the best teams in the tri state area. im not sure how there series works, but seems to be working

i agree with the above
Reffing. having a team that is playing in the series ref an event just doesnt work.
but there is no way around it.
ftl

a travel reffing crew would cost alot of money. lets say they get paid $50 per person per day, 3 man should have 5 refs, 5 man should have atleaste 8 refs. Thats $650 per weekend for just the refs. Well come to think of it, thats not that bad, and maybe the series could cover half of there hotel cost or work something out with choice hotels.com Even if you knocked it down to $40 per day it would be $520 per weekend.

Only down side this is most people want this, but they dont want the cost to go up.

Unless a team is willing to "give" there services for the whole season, then maybe get free entry for the following season?

Since I am not running the series any longer, I can voice my opinions and tell those who don't agree to F off! LOL....

My suggestions…. (short version)
1. Omit one of the events
2. Reduce the costs
3. Get rid of L4
4. Reduce the team size. Make both levels either all 3man.
5. Allow 1 coach per team
6. Force level changes

My suggestions…. (long version)

1. Omit one of the events. History has proven that the attendance at the 4th and 5th event are low. This is due to costs, schedule, and the fact that team’s think they can’t win against the other teams who have consistently taken the top places/prizes from the first 3 events within their level. With regards to costs, events #4 is usually in September and people are trying to recover the costs associated with putting their kids in school. With regards to schedule, event 4 is usually occurs in the Fall and you compete with fall sports. My recommendation would be to have Event #1 in April / Event #2 in June / Event #3 in November (early) / and Event #4 at an indoor facility in January or February (even though it bleeds into the following calendar year, would still be the same season)

2. Reduce the costs of entry. The economy sucks right now and a lot of families are affected. Reducing the costs can be done in several different options. Option #1 would be to reduce the prize packages. The series has always given away nice prize packages but the result of that, is the entry and paint costs are more than what a lot of people can afford at this time because of the economy. Option #2 would be to reduce the size of the teams to 3man or 4man. Just try it for one season (or perhaps just one event next season) where you make paint and prizes dirt cheap (somehow) and maybe the prizes are nothing more than a trophy. Maybe this will draw in more teams and bring some teams back who are wanting to play for the fun of the game rather than playing trying to make it a source of income.

3. Get rid of L4. Level 4 was created with the purpose of trying to draw in beginner teams such as my daughter and her friends who were 10 who played 3 years ago. Or for people like me who are old, fat, out of shape and suck! However, the current teams in L4 are teams who are very capable of playing against those teams in L3. Due to the fact that L4 hasn’t drawn in any “true beginner” teams, I recommend you omit L4 and make it simply a 3man Rookie class.

4. Reduce the team size . Make both levels either all 3man or reduce L2 to 4man. This has benefits from several different angles. #1, you can reduce the costs per team (if 5man goes to 3man or 4man) and #2, it will make it easier to find enough players to fill a roster. Finding 5 players who can play isn’t always easy.

5. Allow 1 coach per team. This will make it more interesting to watch. If you do this, don’t allow the coaches near the spectators… have a designated netted area on the tape side that that coach must stand at so fights don’t break out among the spectators.

6. Force level changes. Like I said in #1 above, team’s think they can’t win against the other teams who have consistently taken the top places/prizes from the first 3 events within their level. So I recommend that if a team has swept first in the first two or three events, force that team to bump up to the next level. Obviously that team is playing in a caliber they shouldn’t be playing in.

Again, these are just my suggestions. If you don’t like them… bite me!

Na... you want to stay away from August IMO. That is when school starts up and those that have kids dump hundreds of dollars to the school districts for tuition, band instruments, lunches, sports, etc. August is a bad month if you ask me.

Per Dan's posting go to 4 events it and spread them out evenly. Times are getting harder and money is getting even harder to come by. If you went to just 4 events, have the players vote on the events or decide on by which events had the most turn out. I would also put a cap on each division it would make teams want to sign up and get in to play. And if you put a cap with a set prizes you will get your teams to show up to each event.

3 events. early April, mid May, late June
option to pay for all three in advance.
Prizes posted ahead of time.
NO COACHING
Cap teams L4- 6, L3-12, L2-10

my thoughts:
Three events= less cost for everyone.
Paying up front will help with figuring prizes.
I say no coaching but If you do end up having it counter coaching should not be tolerated at all.
stay the three levels
L4 as high as 11 and as low as 4 Cap it at 6 past 6 events 4,8,5,7,6,11
L3 as high as 20 and as low as 4 Cap it at 12 past 6 events 12,17,15,4,10,20
L2 as high as 18 and as low as 6 Cap it at 10 past 6 events 8,9,11,6,11,18

DON'T CUT L4!!! WHY? if you cut out the beginners. Who's going to keep paintball growing when you quit!

i think was dan was getting at is that most of the level 4 teams now, can beat most of the level 3 teams. the point of level 4 was to bring to beg to the sport and get them a taste of tourney paintball.

I would keep level 4, but not make it a series. Only allow a team to play 2 level 4 events, before they must bump up. NOw there will be some teams that are true level 4 teams and need to stay down in level 4, so there would have to be some tweating: ie

If you make it to finals in any event, you must bump....something like that

I say no coaching but If you do end up having it counter coaching should not be tolerated at all.

I agree… no counter coaching. And I think the only way to keep the coaching to a useful, but manageable level is do what I suggested. Each team is allowed 1 coach. That 1 coach is AWAY FROM THE REST OF THE SPECTATORS on the tape side and in a designated area on their teams half of the field. By doing something like this, the spectators must remain quiet and you can prevent spectator coaching and counter coaching.

FIrst off ill start out by saying Dan/ George I have no clue how or why you guys deal/t with all this garbage... all players do is piss and moan.... everytime i log in and check the mps thread there is a bunch of l3-4 players crying about something..... anyhow i give yoiu guys props for dealing with it and for trying to bring us a respected series in the midwest..

2. Replace the levels system with a division system... Everyone uses appa these day... they have a system in place to make classifications much easier... I feel like we always spend time bickering about who is sandbaggin, over classed, underclass, bumping up.... they have a point system that forces players to move up .. USE IT...

3. Three events...March (tims indoor) April (edge), May (someplace in OK), if we get bad weather reschedule for a set rain day in Jun. 5 events is overkill. and 4 events is just one too many.

You could have a second series same year. July, Sept, Oct

4. Everyone seems to be complaining about the reffing this year... ( which is what most teams do when they loose or cant win) People keep on suggesting a full time reffing crew...no one will want to pay what that will cost...Find a team that is over qualified to play the series (OK Senate) Pay them to ref... three events... not a big deal compared to 5!!!

5. All dates/ locations/ and prizes for the entire series should be posted up front at least a month before the first event if not two or three. This should be an easy task for dates and locations.

5. PRIZES.... get away from kee... I mean as much as we like mark... I think I can safely say we are all tired of MINIS and LTDS.... if i never saw any of those ever again I would be happy.... prizes 1-3 is plenty.... events in the past that garuntee higherend guns alway draw a big turnout...Series prize... 1st place only.... trip to cup...or at least partial trip to cup...

6. Format- Personally I think it would cool to see lower division 3 man race to 3 upper division 4 man race to 5. This will take good refs and pits with air at each, not hard to accomplish!

7. One series entry ( it makes teams invested)

8. Coaching 1 registered coach allowed on the opposite side of spectators. SPECTATOR coaching allowed! its alot more fun....